Book.



No. 771,555. PATENTED OCT. 4, 1904.

' G. o. KIMBALL.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 13. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

' UNITED STATES Patented October 4, 1904:.

PATENT ()FFICE.

GEORGE C. KIMBALL, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE SMYTHMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A

CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

BOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 771,555, dated October4, 1904.

Application filed May 13, 1903. Serial No. 156,911. (No model.)

To LZZ whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE C. KIMBALL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Hartford, county of Hartford, and State of Connecticut, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Books, fully describedand represented in the following specification and the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to certain improvements in securing together thesignatures of books and pamphlets, and has for its object to produce abook or pamphlet the signatures of which are secured together bythreads, a thread or threads being looped through alternate signaturesand the loops interlocked,

' the signatures between those secured by the thread or threads referredto being held together by a thread or threads which are looped throughthese signatures, the loops being interlocked.

A further object of the inventionis to produce a book or pamphlet thesignatures of which are secured together by threads, a thread or threadsbeing looped through alternate signatures, the loops being interlocked,and another thread or threads being looped through the signaturesbetween the signatures held by the first thread or threads, the loopsbeing interlocked, the bonds or certain of them formed by the lines ofthread across the signatures being arranged so as to lock the signaturesagainst endwi'se movement.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic elevationillustrating a number of signatures secured together in accordance withthe invention. Fig. 2 is a detail section of the construction shown inFig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4: illustrate, in elevation and section,respectively, a modification of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2.Figs. 5 and 6 illus- A are secured together by a thread or a pluralityof threads, the loops of this thread or these threads being carriedacross the intermediate signatures B B, &c., and being interlocked.Similarly the signatures marked B B B are secured together by a threador a plurality of threads, the loops being carried over the intermediatesignatures A A, &c., and interlocked. The specific arrangement of thethreads by which the signatures are thus secured may be considerablyvaried. Three diiferent arrangements of the threads are illustrated,though other arrangements within the invention are possible.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, which illustrate the preferred arrangementof the threads, the signatures are connected by four threads, though thenumber of threads may be varied and will be varied according to the sizeand character of the book, and the threads are so arranged that thealternate signatures are connected by a plurality of sets of bonds. Thethreads which connect the A A A signatures are marked 1, and the threadswhich connect the signatures B B B are marked 5. In securing togetherthe signatures the threads 1 are passed'into the signature A throughentrance-openings 2 along the interior of the signature and are broughtout in the form of loops 4 through exit-openings 3, the loops A beingcarried across the intermediate signa ture B to a position over thesignature A. These threads are also passed through ontrance-openings 2in the signature A and along the interior ofthis signature, beingbrought out in the form of loops 4 through exit-openings 3 in thesignature A, these loops 1 being passed through the loops which werebrought over from the signature A. After the loops from the signature Ahave been passed through the loops from the signature A they are carriedacross the intermediate signature B to a position over the signature Aand the operations described are repeated across the book. The threads 5are manipulated in the same manner as the threads 1, except that theyare carried into and out of the signatures B B, &c., theentrance-openings for the B signatures being marked 6 and theexitopenings 7. From this it follows that the signatures A A, &c., areconnected together by sets of bonds which cross the intermediatesignatures B B, &c., the lines of threads across the back of thesignatures between the entrance -openings forming bonds and the lines ofinterlocked loops also forming bonds. The signatures B B, &c., are alsoconnected together by sets of bonds which cross the signatures A A, etc.These bonds will of course vary in number, according to the number ofthreads employed.

It will be understood, of course, that in the practical formation of abook the signatures will be fed to the sewing mechanisms, which form thestitches alternatelythat is to say, an A signature will first be putinto position and operated on by the sewing mechanisms, and then a Bsignature will be put into posi tion and operated upon by the sewingmechanisms, the loops of the threads from the A signature being held bytheir sewing mechanisms until the sewing mechanisms which operate uponthe B signature have acted and a second A signature is fed intoposition. It will also be understood that the entrance and exit openingsmay be formed either by the devices which carry the threads into and outof the signatures, or they may be formed by punches or in any othersuitable manner.

If the bonds were disposed across the backs of the signatures, so thatthe bonds which connect the A signatures were at some distance from thebonds which connect the B signatures, the A signatures would be capableof a considerable end wise movement with respect to the B signatures,and vice versa. In sewing some styles of books it is desirable to securethe signatures so as to prevent this lateral movement, and this may-bedone by properly arranging the bonds with respect to each other, so thatthe bonds which secure the A signatures will prevent the B signaturesfrom having any endwise movement, and the bonds which secure the Bsignatures will prevent the A signatures from having any endwisemovement. This locking arrangement of the bonds, which is effected byjuxtaposing certain of them, maybe accomplished in various ways. In thepreferred construction certain of the bonds which connect alternatesignatures will be arranged closely adjacent to the bonds which connectthe intermediate signatures, the arrangemel'it being preferably suchthat an endwise movement of either set of signatures in either directionwill bring-a bond connecting that set against a bond connecting theother set. In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the bonds whichare formed by the lengths of threads between the entrance-openings arearranged close together, the bonds formed bythe thread 1 being arrangedbetween the bonds formed by the thread 5. W'ith this arrangement it willbe noted that if any signature of either set tends to move endwise ineither direction the bond which connects that signature to the others ofits set will be brought against the connecting-bond of the other set ofsignatures and the movement checked. In the construction illustrated inFigs. 1 and 2, furthermore. the stitches are so arranged that the bondsat the ends of the book or group of signatures are those which areformed-by interlocking loops, so that the signatures are firmly tiedtogether at the top and bottom of the book.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 it will be noted that thethreads 1 and 5 are carried in opposite directions from theentrance-points of these threads-that is to say, in the particular formillustrated in these figures the threads 1 are carried to the left fromtheir entrance-openings and the threads 5 are carried to the right fromtheir entrance-openings. It follows, therefore, that the lengths ofthread which lie inside adjacent signatures are not opposite eachother-that is, are not in register with each other, thus producing astitch which is characterized in the art as on and off. The on-and-ofi'method of sewing has the advantage of making a thinner book, because thethreads in the interior of adjacent signatures are" not opposite eachotherj but it is diflicult with the on-and-otf methods of sewing toproduce a firmly-stitched book. In the construction shown it Will benoted that the signatures are firmly and reliably secured together, andthis, too, by the on-and-ofi' method.

In the construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4E the threads are somewhatdifferently arranged. In these figures the thread 1 is carried into theentrance-openings 2 and out in the form of loops through theexit-openings 3, and the entrance-openings 6 for the threads 5 are inthe same line as the exit-openings 3 for the loops of the threads 1. Inthis construction, therefore, the thread 5 in entering the B signaturespasses through the loop of the thread 1, which has been brought out fromthe A signature. The bonds formed by the loops of thread 1 and thelengths of thread between the entrance-openings for the thread 5 areinterlocked, so that relative end wise movement of the signatures isprevented. In other respects the stitch illustrated in these figures issimilar to the stitch heretofore described, except that all the threadsare carried in the same direction from their entrance-points.

In the construction shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the threads 1 and 5 arecarried in opposite directions from their entrance-points, as in Fi 1;but the entrance-points of thread 1 are closely adjacent to theexit-points of thread 5. In this arrangement the bonds formed by thelengths of thread between the entranceopenings and by the loops of onethread are between the bonds formed by the lengths of thread between theentrance-openings and by the loops of the other thread. This arrangementof stitches forms a very secure constructionof book; but the stitchesformed are all along, as they are termed in the artthat is to say, thelengths of thread in each signature lie opposite or are in register withthe lengths of thread in adjacent signatures.

What is claimed is- 1. A book or pamphlet comprising a series ofsignatures arranged in sets, the signatures of one set alternating withthe signatures of the other set, and the signatures of each set beingconnected by threads, the threads which connect the signatures of eachset passing over and being .unconnected with the signatures of the otherset, substantially as described.

2. A book or pamphlet comprising a series of signatures arranged insets, the signatures of one set alternating with the signatures of theother set, and the signatures of each set being connected by threadswhich are passed into the signatures, along them and out in the form ofloops which are interlocked, whereby each connecting-thread forms twobonds, the bonds which connect the signatures of each set passing overthe signatures of the other set, substantially as described.

3. A book or pamphlet comprising a series of signatures arranged insets, the signatures of one set alternating with the signatures of theother set, and the signatures of each set being connected by threadswhich are passed into the signatures, along them and out in the form ofloops which are interlocked, whereby each connecting-thread forms twobonds, the bonds which connect the signatures of each set passing overthe signatures of the other set, the lengths of thread between theentrance and exit points in adjacent signatures being out of register,substantially as described.

4. A book or pamphlet comprising a series of signatures arranged insets, the signatures of one set alternating with the signatures of theother set, and the signatures of each set being connected by threadsforming bonds, the bonds which connect each set of signatures passingover the signatures of the other set, and a bond or bonds of one of thesets being positioned in close relation to a bond or bonds of the otherset so as to prevent end wise movement of the signatures, substantiallyas described.

5. A book or pamphlet comprising a series of signatures arranged insets, the signatures of one set alternating with the signatures of theother set, and the signatures of each set being connected by threadsforming bonds, the bonds which connect each set passing over thesignatures of the other set and two of the bonds which connect one ofthe sets being arranged between and closely adjacent to two of the bondswhich connect the other set, substantially as described.

6. A book or pamphlet comprising a series of signatures arranged insets, the signatures of one set alternating with the signatures of theother set, and the signatures of each set being connected by threadsforming bonds, the bonds which connect each set of signatures passingover the signatures of the other set, a bond or bonds of one of the setsbeing positioned in close relation to a bond or bonds of the other setso as to prevent endwise movement of the signatures, and the lengths ofthread in the interior of adjacent signatures being out of register,substantially as described.

7. A book or pamphlet comprising a series of signatures arranged in setsthe signatures of one set alternating with the signatures of the otherset, the signatures of each set being connected by threads which arepassed into the signatures, along them, and out in the form of loopswhich are interlocked, whereby each connecting-thread forms two bonds,the bonds which connect the signatures of each set passing over thesignatures of the other set, two of the bonds for one set of signaturesbeing arranged between and closely adjacent to two of the bonds of theother set, and the lengths of thread in the interior of adjacentsignatures being out of register with each other, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

GEORGE G. KIMBALL. Witnesses:

(J. G. KIMBALL, R0131. H. ScHU'rz.

